Family
by notjaneausten
Summary: NOTE: AU VERSION - Excerpt: "...Blood doesn't matter anymore, Daryl, being a family is more than being related in some way. This group on the farm, all of us, we're a family right here right now." An AU VERSION of the 'Sophia wasn't mine,' argument. A surprise confession from Carol leaves Daryl reeling in shock as he tries to asborb what she is trying to tell him.


**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from TWD.**

**AN: This an alternate universe version of what might have happened after Daryl yelled 'Sophia wasn't mine'. To the Guest that left a pretty scathing review - did you read the words 'AU version' in the synopsis? It was never meant to be a strict reinterpretation of the TV episode; hence the warning. **

"Sophia wasn't mine!" Daryl screamed into the darkness of the empty stables, and kicked out at the wooden walls; he'd needed to get away from the rest of the group. Ever since they had found Sophia in the barn he'd felt the heavy weight of despair settle even further onto his chest and he couldn't understand why; even her own mother had seem to move on from her grief and he seemed to be the only stuck.

"Yeah…well, she wasn't mine either…" The quiet statement from the shadows of the stables had the anger draining out of him, leaving only shock behind.

"What?" Daryl whirled around, trying to locate the source of the sound; and not really believing the woman would have said what she had.

"Sophia wasn't my child either, that didn't stop me loving her or protecting her; if anything it only made me love her all the more." Carol stepped out of the stall where she had been visiting the horses while Daryl vented his frustration.

"The hell you weren't!" Daryl sputtered out, if anyone was a child's mother it was this woman. He'd never seen anyone more loving to a child than Carol. To hear her say otherwise just didn't make sense.

"No, it's true. I was a midwife once upon a time; I met Ed when his wife was one of my patients. She had a difficult labour and there were complications during the birth. Helen didn't make it and Sophia nearly didn't either. We began spending more and more time together as I helped him with the baby and one thing turned to another… It was only after we'd been married a couple of years that the beatings began; turned out he blamed me for Helen's death."

"Why didn't ya just up and leave the bastard?"

"I was the only mother that little girl had ever known, I couldn't just leave her! Ed never paid the slightest bit of attention to Sophia until she turned six or seven; then he started to notice that she was beginning to look more and more like Helen and a daddy shouldn't look that way at his own daughter!"

"So, why are ya tellin' me all this now?" Daryl peered through the hair that had fallen over his brow, trying to digest the information.  
"'Cause, it doesn't matter whether I wasn't her mother and that you weren't her father; all that matter's it that little girl had two people that cared enough about her to try and keep her safe. Me, when she was growing up and you now. Blood doesn't matter anymore, Daryl, being a family is more than being related in some way. This group on the farm, all of us, we're a family right here right now."

"Yeah…some screwed up family we are. We got the deputy and his wife who just also happens to be sleepin' with his best friend; that same best friend who's been sharin' the love with the blonde piranha. We got the farmer's daughter sneakin' around with Short Round…need I go on?"

"Like a said, typical family." Carol drawled out dryly and strolled down the length of the aisle to meet him in the middle. She reached out to lay a gentle hand on his arm in passing. "I loved Sophia like she was my very own and I don't regret the years that I gave to her. I know that she's with her real Momma now and that makes me happy in a way. I was only substituting for a while; Helen has her now and that's okay. I'll grieve for the little girl that was only mine for a little while, of course I will; but I know she's in a better place. Do your grieving Daryl, but then let it go." Carol squeezed his arm lightly and left the barn.

Daryl let her words soak in, sinking his knees down to the sawdust floor of the stable. His despair had been overwhelming, crushing his heart and making it difficult to breathe. He drew one deep breath in and then another; before letting the air slowly release. He sought deep inside for that Zen feeling that had long been his saviour and felt the lightness slowly starting to return as the weight in his chest grew lighter with every passing breath.

"Sophia, I'm sorry I couldn't find ya sooner; I tried girl, I really did. Your Momma Carol loved ya so much but she said she's happy ya with yer real Momma now. I hope that's true, girly. Goodbye, Sophia." Daryl whispered his prayer into the empty stable and then creakily rose to his feet, and slowly walked away; his heart a whole lot lighter than when he first entered.


End file.
